Friday, October 09, 2015

Why the Mainstream Media is Failing Us

I think Paul Kurgman is brilliant and agree with his
positions most of the time, but his latest commentary, published in the New
York Times today, comes off being a bit on the naïve side. In this piece, Krugman
wonders why the media keeps allowing Republicans to say the most ridiculous
things without any push back. The Benghazi hearings are a perfect example. It’s
been clear from the start to anyone paying attention that the Congressional
hearings were nothing more than an effort to score political points against
Hillary Clinton, yet the mainstream media has treated this blatantly political
circus as if it were a serious inquiry.

In his essay, Krugman writes:

"Sometimes I have the impression that
many people in the media consider it uncouth to acknowledge, even to
themselves, the fraudulence of much political posturing. The done thing, it
seems, is to pretend that we’re having real debates about national security or
economics even when it’s both obvious and easy to show that nothing of the kind
is actually taking place."

He’s clearly right about the failings
of the mainstream press, but neglects to mention the true motive behind the
networks’ approach to politics in America: Money. In a capitalist society such
as ours, profits are all that matter, and everything else needs to take a seat
at the back of the bus. This includes morality and even truth. The reason why
the media pretends “we’re having real debates about nation security and
economics” is purely financial. The truth would alienate viewers, and no
network wants to do anything that will cause their viewers to switch channels
or cancel a subscription.

So we live in a fantasy world were the
most outrageous lies can be said with a straight face and reported as fact.
Instead of a government-controlled media we have a corporate controlled media
that serves the interests of the one percent, which basically amounts to the
same thing. It’s all propaganda dressed up as objective news.